Pleasant Valley baseball draws a pair of aces

Now in his second year as the Bears' head coach, Charlie Inserra finds his team sitting with a 4-1 record to start the season.

"I didn't necessarily set out to make any huge or drastic changes (this season)," Inserra said. "But I do think that you have to make some adjustments. One of the things last year that I knew I needed to be aware of is quality over quantity.

"I think our practices are getting more efficient."

The efficiency shows. The Bears have allowed just 2.2 runs per game in their first five contests. After an opening-day 4-3 loss to Freedom, PV has beaten Northampton (6-3), West Scranton (10-2), Nazareth (4-1) and East Stroudsburg North (12-1).

The Bears pride themselves on pitching and defense. Two pitchers have stood out so far.

"I'd call Dan Hrbek and Howie Stevens our co-aces," Inserra said. "They've started all four games for us so far. They're both seniors that have experience throwing varsity innings for two years now.

"Top to bottom, we're a pretty good defensive team. That's the way we're going to win games."

Hrbek threw seven innings and recorded 10 strikeouts with no walks in a complete game win over Nazareth on Monday. He also went 1-for-3 with an RBI double from the plate.

"Hrbek has gotten off to a real nice start for us offensively as well," Inserra said. "He's been on the All-MVC team two years in a row as a sophomore and a junior."

Right fielder Connor Cardenas has also gotten off to a good start. He went 1-for-2 with a triple that drove in two runs, reached base on a walk and was hit by a pitch in four plate appearances in the victory over East Stroudsburg North.

"Cardenas has done a nice job for us as our leadoff guy," Inserra said. "He's done a good job setting the table by working counts, taking pitches and making the pitcher work."

Pleasant Valley may have won it season's first Mountain Valley Conference game, but for the Bears, it was just another game.

"We don't prepare any differently (for MVC games)," Inserra said. "The only thing we do is map out our starting pitching a couple weeks in advance so we can dictate in practice what we do with those guys."

For Inserra, this drives home his intent on consistency. He reminds his players to treat every game the same, regardless of who they're up against.

"I think we've had some success when we just keep the same level of intensity all year," Inserra said. "That's the goal — to be consistent."